the spanish. government. they have the ability to take everything. for. the u.n. investigation in syria. of chemical weapons use. on the outskirts of damascus.

it is midday in moscow and we are coming to live with me. thank you for joining us for the program today it seems is not only whistleblowers now being steamrolled by the u.s. government but also those who somehow. just days ago london police detained the partner of the guardian reporter who's been publishing edward snowden's revelations . his computer disks in the process the email provider of a bit permanently. shut down the service after it was demanded to hand over information about its customers following revelations. he doesn't want to perpetrate what he called a crime against the american people by cooperating with the government. if i had continued to operate i felt like it would have put me in

a ethically compromising position. in other words the service no longer would have been what i intended it to be which was a secure and private method of communication for americans so you posted a message on line saying that you were in an impossible situation that either you would quote you here become complicit in crimes against the american people or walk away from a decade of your hard work what do you think you would have faced if you didn't shut down the service when you say no to the government. they have the ability to take everything they have the ability to take your business take your money and take your freedom and there really isn't all that much you can do about it. i was looking at the very real possibility of an impossible debt and possibly being put in jail and still not being able to tell people why i was even

in jail you wrote on the line that without congressional action or strong judicial precedent that you would advise people users against trusting a company that has physical ties to the us why is that all of the major providers here in the us. have provided. our government with real time access to the private information of their users and they don't really have a choice about it and they don't really have the ability to tell anybody about. oh so the fact is if you trust your data to a company even if they they haven't already been approached. and been required to provide access the simple fact is they could be in the future. now the n.s.a. illegally intercepted tens of thousands of personal e-mails every year that's according to declassified documents from a u.s.

court and the violations took place between two thousand and eight and two thousand and eleven but the seized e-mails had nothing to do with terrorism or national security according to the court this data gathering violated the fourth amendment of the us constitution which bans on reasonable searches and seizures and these latest revelations come hot on the heels of a series of exposé regarding the n.s.a. and with most of the least coming from edward snowden and earlier this month orac obama promised an independent and transparent probe into the conduct of the notorious surveillance agency. and its stay with the issue of whistleblowers right now bradley manning's lawyer says he will appeal for a presidential pardon after the man responsible for a massive revelation of u.s. war crimes was sentenced to thirty five years behind bars now the prosecution wanted manning to get behind bars for sixty years with a judge at his court martial refused to hand down the maximum term a guy named can has more on this. bradley manning supporters who gathered at the

white house this evening say he sent bruce is unjust and unfair after all many committed murder got away with less than thirty five years bradley manning has received a prison sentence that was ten years longer than the period of time after which many of the documents you released would have been automatically be classified bradley manning and his the friends are submitting a request for a pardon the president of the united states has the power to pardon him and you see many people here wearing t. shirts and carrying banners that say part in bradley in his request for the president's pardon bradley manning prompted the post nine eleven age the age of the war on terror saying in the efforts to meet the wrists the u.s. has forgotten its humanity but will he manage to outweigh the desire of the government to make an example out of bradley manning to discourage future whistleblowers bradley manning also has supporters who were somewhat relieved by the sentence so pleased he is not going to spend the rest of his life in prison as

prosecutors wanted his lawyer said in ten years bradley manning will get a chance to be released on parole there is hardly any chance president obama will pardon him really especially in the current environment of the government's crackdown on whistleblowers and environment where you have the new whistleblower edward snowden someone who was not discouraged by the crackdown so the government definitely doesn't want more people following suit as far as public support is concerned bradley manning has probably. edward snowden's revelations more and more people are starting to realize that the government will always be trying to sweep controversial issues on the right. they have never left iraq iraq the government granting them immunity from prosecution is something that the obama administration was trying to negotiate around the same time bradley manning leaked all those are opening files president obama would have not announced a review of n.s.a. surveillance programs if it weren't for edward snowden and whether or not that

review is just a symbolic gesture is a question worth asking of course but still we wouldn't be even having those conversations if it weren't for the supporters of bradley manning saying what's at stake here is not just manning future but also the future of journalism and the public's right to be informed on the actions that their government is taking on their behalf in washington i'm going to check on him a potential as one of the activists who's been campaigning in support of bradley manning he says the u.s. government has just declared an all out war on whistleblowers. it is quite extraordinary that bradley manning has got thirty five years for telling the truth and exposing us war crimes lies and cover ups while the people who committed these criminal acts have walked away scot free they have never ever been prosecuted it is a notable fact that president obama has heritage and chased and prosecuted more

whistleblowers than even right wing republicans like richard nixon and ronald reagan that is a pretty damning indictment of president obama and his democratic administration whistleblowers are not criminals they are the canaries in the mine who warned us about danger they warned us about untruths about reality that people in power don't want us to know whistleblowers are essential to democracy. still lots more to come on the program here on r.t. for example while the main goal for many in egypt's revolution was to see the former president hosni mubarak behind bars as reported in a short while the leader could be walking free within hours of correspondent explains why in just a few minutes. but for now on the program the u.n. security council says an investigation is needed into allegations of a deadly chemical attack in syria meanwhile this just in the french foreign

minister has threatened action over the alleged attack should the security council fail to act and the opposition there is accusing outside's forces of gassing hundreds of people on wednesday the allegations that have been refuted by the syrian government details now from our new york correspondent marina porter. deputy secretary general john ellison was also on hand the closed door security council consultations he said that there is no confirmation of the use of chemical weapons and he says that this needs to be underlined meanwhile britain's foreign minister william hague said that the alleged attacks should be an eye opener for all those who support assad his comments leave no options open to the fact that an opposition or terrorist group who would be responsible for the alleged use of chemical weapons now it may be no coincidence the syrian opposition is making these allegations

latest allegations against the syrian government just a few days after a team of u.n. inspectors arrived in damascus to examine previous suspected cases of chemical weapon use in the war torn country meanwhile officials from the russian foreign ministry say that reports by biased regional media unquote about the alleged chemical weapon use near damascus might be a provocation planned in advance russian foreign ministry saving its sources said that a homemade rocket carrying unidentified chemical substances may have been launched from an area controlled by the opposition now the incident reportedly took place on territory surrounding the syrian capital although the region on the outskirts of damascus is known for its opposition inclinations and has been the site of past clashes between government forces and the rebels experts say an al qaeda affiliate has had a long time presence there and the area has faced sustained military pressure for

months. and abroad but there is the director of the un to war so coalition he says the very timing of these allegations costs a huge question mark over the. completely root ludicrous that the syrian government would use chemical weapons at the very moment that the un is a launching its investigation about chemical weapons and especially since the syrian government has its advantage but none of it matters what really matters is what the intention is of the white house in their or their friends in london in terms of escalating their own intervention i think the big goal of the those who carry out the stage provocation is to disrupt any sort of negotiations that could lead to a positive outcome for the existing syrian government meaning that the forces of the civil war had not succeeded in this lodging the assad government that's their plan because they know without western intervention without escalated foreign

intervention there is no possible way they can succeed on the syrian battlefield they don't have the popular support in syria and they don't have the military wherewithal to defeat the syrian government in the meantime of the kurds have been fleeing the ongoing violence in northern syria according to the u.n. more than thirty five thousand refugees have entered iraq since last thursday and the kurdish minority has been hearing heavy attacks by al qaeda linked groups the jihadist forces have been taking advantage of the ongoing civil war to try to gain control over parts of northeastern syria. are still to come here we're not seeing imagine having a job but with no idea when you'll believe that you'll be paid for it that is regrettably the situation for a million brits cloyd on so-called zero i was contractors i'm all that story and the rest of the world's top headlines for this hour just about.

what defines a country's success. baselessly years of economic growth. for a factual standard of living. others in the. picture.

just turning. of course the urge to topple egypt's former dictator hosni mubarak of course was the key driving force of the twenty eleven revolution but after being sentenced to life in prison for ordering the killing of hundreds of protesters in the uprising and a successful trial appeal that followed mubarak could actually be walking free later today he will however be back in court within days for further proceedings and let's get details on this right now how is really became possible with artie's belcher. century the clock is being turned right back to two thousand and eleven for he started any of these trials so it's almost like he'd never been sentenced in the first place because he's already been in detention for several years they now

can't keep him in before he's actually sentenced now with he has been in jail obviously because there been other charges against him knew of charges in regards to corruption now that he's been acquitted of their use is no reason to keep him in jail however he still have forty hours max for the prosecutor to basically appeal the decision to release him if they decide that he should be released and he will remain in jail almost see you know how long they'll keep him as that goes forward the reaction on the streets is being wrought largely makes people here are kind of reeling from the situation in the last few days basically when the bloodiest weeks in egyptian modern history in the fighting between mostly supporters and security forces who will get by that the fun of hosni mubarak could be free to the same time is almost too much for some revolutionaries here who's speaking to me and told me that what was the point of coming out of the streets two years ago what has been the point of fighting for justice and freedom and bread in the last two and a half years is the very person they started by to get is to be walking free we will see what happens as his trial is start to restart again on the twenty fifth of

august at the same time as many other leading muslim brotherhood figures will also stand trial and somewhat ironic that these two that figure is it because it basically to be facing trial at the same time but largely on the streets people are pretty upset that this much hated figure could be seen to be walking home and i we spoke to cairo based award winning journalist. she says the situation in egypt has become so bad that the surprising news on mubarak's possible release has actually been upstaged. you have the president the democratically elected president in jail but i dare say there is a case against him and mubarak is going to be released it's kind of everything's been flipped over the news of his possible release was just a kind of cherry on top for everyone so much has happened so many people have died that mubarak has faded into the background a little for a lot of people when you think that it's been tried for which is the death of the protesters in eighteen days and then you compare the fact that a greater number of are protesters died in one day last week it kind of puts things

in perspective for a lot of egyptians. of course. our web seems always loading up the latest stories to our website for example we've already seen russians unexpectedly encounter tanks boats and you can even fighter jets and their everyday lives but be upstaged by this right here. must've hope coming on to the beaches in front of a lot of very surprised there's a brilliant footage for you right now. also for you that this is washington's drone program keeps flexing its wings over more and more countries air force commanders now find themselves short of staff who are able to pilot the soaring fleet those details also on the website for this our. first trip. and i think.

thanks for joining us here on out see a growing of employees in the u.k. are being left in financial limbo by firms increasingly using the controversial employment tactic of so-called zero hours contracts and the sad reality for the staff working under these conditions means they could end up penniless despite spending every waking hour at the job let's get an explanation here with point. you have a job but you don't know when you'll work or if you'll be paid that's the reality for a million brits employed on zero hours contracts donald says admitted that it employs ninety percent of its u.k. workforce in this way staff are expected to be ready for work in the mornings in

case this summoned by their boss says they also have the right to refuse crucially though there's no guaranteed minimum set of working hours per week hence the zero in the title of this man in his twenty's is almost zero hours contract with a well known restaurant chain every morning he waits for the call telling him whether or not he'll have work really in charge as it were you working there to be able to. make that much profit this week so actually we're going to try and do stuff as we can you guys can all be cut and we'll just do it on three stuff this week is completely and for the government has promised to investigate the controversial employment amidst concerns that leaving an increasing number of brits in financial limbo with few rights low pay and no stability or no guarantee of other jobs or wasn't making enough money to pay the rent was falling behind the number of zero hours contract topic during the recession some economists forecasts

that employers will return to hiring workers on better terms when the economy recovers the trade unions buying it in recent months and years we have start to see a growth of say roust contracts particularly amongst public sector workers no longer are these small groups of workers who are employed on temporary employment now in some sites is this type of abusive employed ship is becoming the norm macdonald sports direct dominoes and even buckingham palace as employers they've been accused of exploiting people desperate for any kind of work it's part of the race to drive down the terms and conditions the pay. working people fortunately big business is using the is there a measures in the government economic crisis as an excuse to use these contracts but business representatives say that the financial crisis is forcing companies to use zero hours contracts so those people who criticize the contract you've got to

recognize the impact that that would have on unemployment levels it's actually the flexibility that. wasn't available to employers i don't think it would be acting as the kind of employment stabilizer we're seeing it work out but terms of these contracts may see the bosses but many of the young people on them say that while they're on zero hours they've got zero chance of any financial stability i think they're wrong no i think they should i think they should shouldn't be less extreme than they are because it was it doesn't happen that you don't have zero hours and you can sort of expect that at some point you may do. artsy london or just a moment on the r.t. world update for now though russia's ministry of emergencies says the flood situation in some areas of the country's far east is now slowly stabilizing still though the main worry is the city of its where water levels are expected to reach eight meters this weekend five thousand people have already been affected in the

workers of erected almost seventeen kilometers of temporary embankment ten of them in. the floods have been described as the worst in a century with many thousands of hectares of farmland swamped it's been estimated now racking up a bill of more than sixty million dollars worth of damage may have been done in the high water levels simply caused by heavy downpours in early july not expected to start receding so early next month. all right as promised into the antiwar dot there we go right now let's start with thailand where a court has convicted two iranians of taking part in a failed bomb plot allegedly talking israeli diplomats or the tel of eve accuse terror on of terror activities the men were never charged with terrorism offenses and they were found guilty of possessing explosives among other counts one received a life sentence while the other fifteen years in prison and the attempt was exposed last year after an accidental blast destroyed

a villa in the thai capital where the pair were staying iran has denied all allegations of any involvement. to colombia where protesters have been blockading highways for a third day in various regions locking horns with police but thousands of students farm workers and truckers all took to the streets in the capital bogota to demand better working conditions higher wages and free education the rallies are part of nationwide protests some of the largest and tea government demonstrations in decades. the star of japan's crippled fukushima atomic power plant here inspecting three hundred tanks amid concerns that a highly radioactive water used for cooling systems could be escaping. follows a recent huge leak from one of the tanks in the plant's operator revealed that hundreds of tons of contaminated water had drained out and could have reached the pacific seen as the most serious accident at fukushima since a massive tsunami and earthquake caused the nuclear meltdowns there in march of

twenty eleven. now a pro cannabis campaign is in a german town and found a rather unorthodox way to go green there arguing that pot can actually be much less harmful than tobacco and alcohol so they planted seeds or over town. went to find. it's high time for a change in the law say activists in the university town the. scene a novel form of protest springing up as around a thousand marijuana plants were added to the leafy city this autonomous group wanted to raise awareness and to get publicity for their cause which was legalization of marijuana and they just want people to stumble over the plants was just something that you would find on your way to work or on your way across town despite an active program of weeding out the weed by authorities it isn't hard to

find a sport where the surreptitious seeds have sprouted. in fact what we can find here is that very plant and you can find them in all sorts of random places like this one those behind the planting who call themselves a few autonomous flow of children also held an online photo contest to gather pictures of the best birds which the police told me is very handy when it comes to tracking down the pesky plants. we first got wind of it when someone saw this online contest this is a very big and a very green city the best way for us to find them was to look for landmarks in the picture. many have passed off this stunt is a bit of student high jinks towards the end of the academic year however this could be the start of something far bigger say those in the legal profession i think that this. is an act of civil disobedience should be a starting point for

a much wider discussion on legalizing all kinds of drugs are not doing it i am not . made up my mind to it but we should have this discussion supporters of the activists believe that used responsibly cannabis could be far less dangerous than things like alcohol and tobacco many people think that you can actually consume it . soberly. and as soon as you have that a responsible approach to its consumption then it should not be a problem to legalize that supplying the drug carries a prison sentence in germany so far no one connected with the raising of the crop has faced any legal action due to the your ability of the plant meaning it can grow just about anywhere don't expect these parts piety is to give up their campaign any time soon peter all of them get sick in germany it's been a pleasure having you with us here on r.t. today just a moment on the dangerous lives of farmers and gone and how they are on the defense

for their livelihoods life from moscow and tsotsi. they say geopolitics is a lot like a schoolyard and while obama snubbing a meeting with the president of russia to in theory punish him for the stoughton incident sounds kind of amateur that is the kind of stuff the girl you did when you're sixteen would do cancel a date just to show you how much her feelings are hurt let's not mistake this cancel meeting with cutting off diplomatic relations which is the total rejection of any form of discussion with another country which really sent a bold and possibly dangerous political message but obama did was more like a minor annoyance he knows that he will talk to putin again in the near future i mean how are they not going to talk in the next g.

eight summit what is he just going to have to hide behind merkel the whole time and hope it works out or ducked behind the shrimp cocktail whatever here's a russian accent one could argue that to appease republicans he had to do something to look strong after the stone debacle but this grandstanding just comes across as silly passing something like a new jackson varick amendment yeah that is how you could shows people that you're really mad even if you're an. or is irrational because still pretty much did the right thing but that's just my opinion. the the. with. the the. leg. the leg.

the with. me me me me me me me me me me me. in the beginning of two thousand and thirteen the capital of ghana was named africa's fastest growing city. in the it.